Psalm 128:1-6 NKJV
A Song of Ascents.
128 Blessed is every one who fears the Lord,
Who walks in His ways.
2 When you eat the labor of your hands,
You shall be happy, and it shall be well with you.
3 Your wife shall be like a fruitful vine
In the very heart of your house,
Your children like olive plants
All around your table.
4 Behold, thus shall the man be blessed
Who fears the Lord.
5 The Lord bless you out of Zion,
And may you see the good of Jerusalem
All the days of your life.
6 Yes, may you see your children’s children.
Peace be upon Israel!
The psalmist describes the blessedness of those who fear the Lord and walk in His ways. God blesses His faithful not only with daily bread, as He does all people, but especially with the ability enjoy the fruit of their labor. This is, indeed, a blessing because many work and toil yet do not enjoy the fruit of their labor but eat the bread of sorrows instead (Ps 127:2). Solomon writes in Ecclesiastes 3:13, “That every man should eat and drink and enjoy the good of all his labor — it is the gift of God.” God also often blesses His faithful with a fruitful marriage which produces children. While He grants fruitful marriages to those who do not fear Him, those who fear the Lord and walk in His ways have the added blessing of raising their children in the faith, so that they may be “like a green olive tree in the house of God” (Ps 52:8).What makes the blessing of work, marriage, and family complete is the recognition that all these are undeserved gifts from God.
But the chief blessing with which God blesses those who fear Him is the blessing that comes “out of Zion” (5). Mount Zion, the city of David, is where God dwelled among Israel in His temple. From there He blessed those who feared Him and walked in His ways with forgiveness of sins and the promise of everlasting life. The Christian understands Mount Zion to be Christ dwelling with His church, since in Christ “the Word became flesh and dwelt [literally: ‘tabernacled’] among us” (John 1:14). The Old Testament Israelites looked to Mount Zion for God’s blessing. We have the fulfillment of the temple in Christ Jesus, in whom God “has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly placesin Christ” (Eph 1:3).
All the blessings God gives us in this life should point us to God’s chief blessing in Christ. We can rejoice as the pilgrims going to Jerusalem rejoiced, for God dwells with us in the person of His Son and He dwells with us to give us the blessedness of the forgiveness of sins, new life by the power of the Holy Spirit, and the promise of eternal salvation.
Let us pray: O God, keep us mindful that You have given us every spiritual blessing out of Zion—our Lord Jesus—so that we may gladly fear You and walk in Your ways. Amen.